TO: the public FROM: Alayne Blickle, program director DATE:5/8/98 PHONE: 425-432-6116 EMAIL:ARBlickle@aol.com SUBJECT: environmentally sensitive horsekeeping FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Are you new at owning horses or at keeping horses on your property? Would you like to learn about ways to manage manure besides creating Mount Manure behind the barn? Are you interested in pasture management -- when to mow, how to apply compost and what equipment to use? Do you know about setting up sacrifice areas and dealing with the rain and mud of our winters? Would you like to learn more about wildlife enhancement on horse places and landscaping farms with native plants? If this interests you then please welcome HORSES FOR CLEAN WATER and join us for a farm tour at a Maple Valley Model Horse Farm on Saturday, June 20th from 10am to noon.
HORSES FOR CLEAN WATER is a continuation of the environmentally sensitive horsekeeping education King County horseowners have known for the past 5 years through the King County Model Horse Farm Project. This new program, run by horseowners in support of horseowners, was awarded a contract by the Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team. Like the Model Horse Farm Project, HORSES FOR CLEAN WATER will offer farm tours, classroom series, workshops and demonstration farms. For the first year activities will be centered in South King County, WA, but will be open to anyone.
Topics for classroom series and workshops will include mud management, manure management, pasture management, seeding, composting manure, fencing, weed management, fall pasture management, stream fencing and restoration, wildlife enhancement, and more. Farm tours provide an excellent opportunity for horseowners to take a first-hand look at different environmentally sensitive management options. Examples of practices which can be viewed and explained include mudless paddocks (sacrifice areas), gutter and downspout systems, French drains, manure composting systems, pasture renovation projects, cross fencing, rotational grazing, stream fencing and restoration projects, wildlife enhancement techniques, and forest stewardship. Several new demonstration farms will be established through HORSES FOR CLEAN WATER in the Issaquah, Renton and Maple Valley (WA) areas and will be included in the farm tour plans.
A unique aspect of HORSES FOR CLEAN WATER will be the creation of partnerships to help promote environmentally sensitive horsekeeping practices. Some of the partners already involved with HORSES FOR CLEAN WATER include horseowners, horse organizations, horse/farm related businesses, government agencies, environmental groups, and other businesses. Together, we can make a difference -- creating a win-win situation for our horses and farms as well as the environment!
The first event for HORSES FOR CLEAN WATER will be a farm tour and celebration at a Maple Valley Model Horse Farm on Saturday, June 20th from 10am to noon.
If you would like to register for this event or if you have questions contact program director Alayne Blickle at 425-432-6116 or by email at ARBlickle@aol.com . Join us and learn about ways to make your horse place healthier for you, your horses, your neighborhood and the environment!
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